Being fired for all the right reasons….

I have never spoken of my abrupt and sudden unemployment back in March; the event was tossed to the side as if it didn’t happen. Mostly because I was not upset with the fact that I lost my job. Really the only thing that even bothered me about the situation was the owner of the company I was working for at the time, got away with being a horrible person.

Let’s rewind all the way back to 2002. I landed my first job just a few months out of college. I didn’t know it then, but I had one of the best jobs I will probably ever have. I traveled all the time: even to Europe and Asia. Got to see my name on product that I designed. Helped develop product for people like Target, The Container Store, etc. But I slowly started to take it for granted. After almost 5 years I packed it up and moved to take a job here in KC. But I did it for all of the wrong reasons. I took it because it was the only job offer I could find at the time in Industrial Design. And I wanted to live in a larger city. Not caring about the red flags that were going off in my head during my interview.

This new job was eye opening. I decided I would take a completely different approach (mentally speaking) to this place, and sort of just sit back and do the work. But that turned out to be impossible. Within six months I knew I wanted out. Not because I didn’t like the products I was designing (which I didn’t). It came down to how I was being treated. It was miserable. 

I made some verbal agreements (which was a giant mistake, always get things in writing) to take less than the pay that I wanted because I didn’t know some certain software that was required. Once learning it, I would be bumped up to near the pay I wanted. No problem. I learned the software in less than 2 weeks. And in 6 months, I was teaching my Design Director certain things in the software that even he didn’t know. When I brought up the verbal agreement I made because I now knew the software, I was told no one remembered even having that conversation.

So here I was, grossly (and I mean majorly) underpaid yet constantly being told I’m not doing enough, even though I was basically filling the shoes of three positions: Photographer, Graphic Designer, and Industrial Designer. BTW, I was saving them $3500 for every day that I did photography, because that is the daily rate they were paying for their current photographer. Anyway. I was repeatedly reminded of how replaceable I was. I was screamed at, cussed at, threatened, you name it. And I honestly could not even give an example of what I could have done wrong to deserve that treatment. And thinking back I now realize that 90% of the things I was being yelled at for, at any other company would have been considered doing my job. The economy tanking just gave them even more excuses to be ridiculous. I could give you endless examples of crap I put up with, but to give you a clear picture of how irrational this person was, I’ll give you one single defining example. My director and I witnessed him threaten a grounds keeper’s life (not exaggerating in the least bit) because a piece of mulch landed on his precious Bentley. 

After 2.5 years of this, it was seriously taking it’s toll. Unfortunately for me, I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I was coming home every night in a horrible mood and pissed off. One day I had enough. In a morning video conference with the owner, again my director and I were being cussed at. For no reason. Fuck it. I explained to him there was no reason to be yelling at us. He flipped out. I said I’m not going to sit in this meeting if this is how I was going to be treated, and walked out. After a while of cooling off we met on video conference again. I was asked what that was about. Lots of things were said.

Ultimately, I explained to him how I didn’t like the way I had been treated for the last 2 years. I no longer wanted to be cussed at especially. His response: “I’m 65 years old and I don’t need some stupid kid telling me how to run my business. I’m going to do whatever the hell I want, and if you don’t like it then you just need to go.” So that was it.

Over the next few days I of course was panicing like you wouldn’t believe. Couldn’t sleep either. But I decided this was the perfect time to take my freelance business to full time. However, it has been really, really tough to find gigs. I have called and emailed hundreds of people, sent I don’t’ know how many resumes and portfolios, gone to a portfolio showcase for freelancers. It is a tough, daily battle. Far more difficult to work for yourself than it is for other people. But I’m happy. Really happy. Oh yes, there are still times when I wonder how this is going to work, but I stay positive. 

I guess the point of me explaining this story is to say as a designer (or really any career for that matter) don’t ever let yourself or anyone else compromise your goals that you wish to achieve. It is a tough, tough climb to get where you want to be, but the payoff is huge. I’m not saying you cannot work for someone else, but know how to own it and get what you want out of your career. For me, I will take the financial loss if it means personal happiness. And keep plugging away until this works. I may even have to ultimately go back to work again, at least for a while until freelance picks up. Or at the very least take a part time job at even a retail store. In many ways I feel like I have stepped back in my career by 5 or more years. But I’m OK with it because it made me realize the places I didn’t want to go back to, and shined a light on the places I did want to be. 

28 Notes/ Hide

  1. texturism said: finally had time to read this. i am sorry that your experience was a rough one. i am glad you left. & perhaps more sorry that your ex-boss is so disconnected. he can’t be happy. you can!
  2. jheath said: Dude, I relate to this in a massive way. This sounds like exactly the situation and conditions that caused me to leave my flying gig in AZ for this lower paying job. I’m glad you stood up for yourself. This hits really close to home.
  3. drawgabbydraw said: Horrible bosses really can ruin your life. Thanks for sharing this story of how you came out on top and are happy being your own boss!
  4. evrtstudio posted this

Recent comments

Blog comments powered by Disqus